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Travel with us to the surface of the moon, the center of the earth, and the depths of the ocean — to the fantastic worlds of fiction inspired by 19th-century discovery and invention.
New frontiers of science were emerging. We took to the air, charted remote corners of the earth, and harnessed the power of steam and electricity. We began unlocking the secrets of the natural world. The growing literate middle class gave science a new and avid public audience. Writers explored the farther reaches of the new scientific landscape to craft novels, hoaxes, and satires.
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Visit the Exhibit
Opening July 1, 2015
National Museum of American History, Washington, DC

The Smithsonian Libraries opened its new exhibition "Whales: From Bone to Book" in the National Museum of Natural History on May 25, 2013. This exhibition is a joint production of the Libraries and the Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History. "Bone to Book" will be on display on the ground floor through April 2014.
Studying natural history is about discovering objects in the natural world and translating their meaning into scientific knowledge. "Whales: From Bone to Book" traces the fascinating journey of how Smithsonian scientists study the largest and most intelligent mammals on the planet: whales. This story describes how the bones and fossils of these amazing animals make their way from discovery on a beach or in rock strata, to the museum's doors and into its vast collections, and finally to sharing new knowledge about the natural history of whales, past, present and future.
Whales are among the unlikeliest of mammals. They are mammals with ancestors who lived on land, but they now spend 99 percent of their lives underwater. Scientists still have much to learn about their natural history, even as humans have hunted many whale species to the brink of extinction.
The Smithsonian has been studying whales since the 1850s, and its collections of modern and fossil whale specimens in the National Museum of Natural History are unmatched in the world. Teams of Smithsonian scientists, researchers, and illustrators continue this legacy of investigation, collecting whale bones, placing them in the museum for study, and publishing their findings.
The Smithsonian Libraries is part of this process, housing the world's best collection of resources about marine mammals – from centuries-old books to electronic journals that publish the latest discoveries by Smithsonian researchers.

Why are centuries-old natural history books vital to scientific research? Our scientists consult early printed materials to compare historical descriptions with modern specimens. These researchers use the rare book collection of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' new Joseph F. Cullman, 3rd, Library of Natural History. Wonder-rooms and curiosity cabinets appeared in the 1500s, as wealthy Europeans displayed objects and specimens collected during trading voyages and exploring expeditions. Books-such as these-allowed scientists and collectors to share their observations.